New & Noteworthy

posted in: October 2005 | 0

Escargot, Anyone? Add another species to Hawai`i’s list of strange wee beasties. Researchers at the University of Hawai`i have discovered on Maui a native caterpillar that dines exclusively on native snails.

Daniel Rubinoff and William P. Haines, both of the UH Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Science, detailed their discovery of Hyposmocoma molluscivora in a recent edition of the journal Science. “H. molluscivora,” they write, “has evolved a specialized strategy… [T]his predatory caterpillar uses silk in a spiderlike fashion to capture and immobilize prey. When they encounter a resting snail of the native genus Tornatellides, they immediately begin to spin silk webbing attaching the snail shell to the leaf on which it rests, apparently to prevent the snail from sealing itself against the leaf or dropping to the ground once the larva attacks the soft tissue of the living snail. The larva then wedges its case next to or inside the snail shell and stretches much of its body out of its silk case, pursuing the retreating snail to the end of the shell from which there is no escape.”

The Doctor Is In: Aquatic insect expert Dr. Dan Polhemus, a former research manager at the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Entomology and the Bishop Museum, started work last month as head of the state Division of Aquatic Resources, a position that had been vacant since last year’s retirement of another stream specialist, Bill Devick. Polhemus’s appointment was approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources on September 9.

Polhemus, who has studied Hawaiian damselflies for many years, is one of four recent hires by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which had experienced an exodus of some of its key leaders over the last two years.

Russell Tsuji, a former deputy attorney general assigned to the DLNR, now heads the DLNR’s Land Division. David Lawrence Brown II, formerly with Kailua cultural consulting firm Garcia and Associates and several mainland historic preservation offices, has filled the long-vacant state archaeologist position with the Historic Preservation Division. And University of Hawai`i Sea Grant coastal specialist Chris Conger has been hired to assist the DLNR with determining where shorelines should be certified for setback purposes.

Happy Birthday To Hakalau: Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge celebrates its 20th anniversary during its annual open house on Saturday, October 15. The open house is an opportunity for people to hike through parts of the refuge, which normally is closed to the public, and see some of Hawai`i’s rarest and most endangered forest birds.

Participants must arrange their own transportation to the refuge. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required for the two-hour drive from Hilo, Waimea, or Kona. “We don’t recommend this trip for young children or those who lack an adventurous spirit due to the long, rough ride, rugged terrain, and primitive facilities,” says refuge manager Richard Wass.

Visitors should come prepared for wet, chilly weather and bring their own lunch, water, binoculars, and rain gear. Reservations are required and may be obtained by calling the refuge office in Hilo at 933-6915 by October 12. Directions and additional information will be mailed to all participants.

Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge consists of 32,730 acres of native forest and grassland on the windward slope of Mauna Kea between the elevations of 2,500 and 6,500 feet. The refuge was established on October 28, 1985, to protect and manage endangered forest birds and their habitats, and contains some of the finest stands of koa-`ohi`a forest in the state.

Volume 16, Number 4, October 2005